Thursday, August 09, 2007

Bonds 757: Well, that was fast. As quickly as "756" mania could hit sports fans, it's gone. Just another milestone en route to whatever Bonds' final total is. But every time Bonds jacks another -- and, at this pace, there will be many "anothers" -- the target moves. "756" had its 15 minutes of fame; much like the country's overall Bonds loathing, everything is moving on...

Reggie Miller on the Celtics? This is a genius idea by the team – and one that Miller, if he feels up to it, should accept (even though his specialty – jump-shooting – is exactly the same as Ray Allen's). "Let's get the old gang back together" is a wonderful motto: Every player ever thwarted for a ring should clamor out of retirement and join the Celtics. It's the "Dream Deferred Team."

PGA Championship: Umm, OK, I'll take Tiger.

NFL Camping: Did Saints LB Scott Fujita injure himself at a water park after a team excursion? What the hell is the team doing at a place as injury-magnetized as a water park?

MLB Dud: Dontrelle Willis, who hasn't won a game since May 29, going 0-9 with 4 NDs since then.

Who's Now: I'm late on this, but just to get some closure, please remember that when Who's Now launched, I predicted that Tiger Woods would win in a runaway -- why bother asking the question? Page 2's old obsession with brackets (for which I was a happy obsessive) foreshadowed how Who's Now would play out.

Mascots: The Steelers' new "Steely McBeam" could be the worst mascot name in history. It's as if the Steelers PR team didn't know that the default way to make fun of people is to call them "Something-y McSomething-Unflattering" (like Steely McEmbarrassment).

Prediction: "Steely McBeam" is either phased out (quickly) or abandoned (entirely) by the start of the regular season (if not by the end of next week).

Fantasy Markets: ProTrade is launching their NFL team stock-market valuations today. This might become my default way to evaluate where teams stand.

I am going to repeat my plea to Danny Ainge from Yesterday. Especially after I heard that the Celtics are thinking of using the full mid range exception of 5 Million to get Miller.

Danny please do not do it, The Celtics need another PG not a has been, 42 year old, has not played in 2 years, sister is better then me jump shooter. Use that money for something better, let Reggie stay in the TV booth.

Major Dud~ Grady Sizemore. 2 K's last night to become the strike-out leader. Gee, what a great feat. My son won't be wearing his Grady tee for awhile, just his general Indians gear. Does the Tribe even have a freakin' hitting coach!?

I wish I could watch the video of that baby on YouTube, but the internet cops block most things fun. (notice I said "most"!)

As one of the 12 remaining die-hard NBA fans, I make the following statement about Reggie Miller's possible comeback with the Boston Celtics...

Assuming he signs for the Vet's min, Reggie Miller would be great for the Celts. Just think about the fact that last year at the all-star game everyone stood around and watched Reggie knock down 90/100 from behind the arc while unguarded. If he is half that good while guarded, he's worth it. And the point of this whole thing is that, because of the new "Big 3", he won't be guarded. You are basically taking 2 of the top 5 3-point shooters of all-time (the other three would be Steve Kerr, Tim Legler, and Peja Stojakovic) and making a team guard both of them at the arc while still paying attention to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. That sounds good to me.

How is a water park an injury magnet? I don't think I have ever seen someone get hurt at a water park. I am sure it happens but a well conditioned athlete should be able to make it down a slide unscathed.

The name was decided by a contest of children under 13 (I think... actually, I hope.) Being a born Steelers' hater (which is like a death sentence in this city) I couldn't be happier with their choice.

Steeley McBeam. Seriously. How could any marketing department turn that name into a legit NFL Mascot?

I hope whoever came up with that stupid mascot name throws a little money in the direction of the Sklar brothers and the Cheap Seats crew. They had a talking steel beam named Beamy, and that was the first thing i thought of when I heard the name. I just looked up a picture of the mascot. I always thought that thing was just a big foam Bill Cowher

Kurt - Wang/Wong could care less, as for my grammar it sucks and I know but that is because I am working and sometime I type real fast just to get a message in. In the future keep you corrections to yourself.

I can see a water park causing major injuries. Just imagine falling asleep on one of those pool chairs and waking up with a brutal sunburn - who would want to go through a two-a-day in full pads after that?

Or what about getting a massive hangover from sipping on fruity drinks with umbrellas all day long?

Does anyone here want my players to watch in the Little League World Series? I make them up, before the games for some of my friends because we go on a yearly trip for 2 days to see the U.S. and International Semi-Finals. Nothing like 4 games in 2 days that don't cost any money and eating a ton of meat you brought with you to grill and sitting so close that with binoculars I can read what pitch the pitcher is throwing by seeing what fingers the catcher puts down and how the pitcher is gripping the ball.

7 of the 8 spots in the international bracket are decided with the Canadian team being the exception, but the first U.S. team is decided tonight. The game is at 8 on ESPN. If you haven't tried it out, you should.

The food they sell there is really cheap, as are the programs. I also forgot to mention that parking is free and that it is better to sit outside the stadium than in. Me and my friends bring those folding canvas chair and sit on top of the first hill. That's about 250ft. from home plate in dead center. The best part is that the vendors come around selling things like soda and dippin dots ice cream eventhough you aren't even in the stadium. It is awesome.

Here's my scouting report for tonight...

Notes for tonight's game between Warner Robins, Georgia and Mobile, Alabama in the Southeast Regional Championship for a spot in the Little League World Series:

These teams met on the first day of the regional tournament and Georgia beat Alabama 6-5. Perhaps because both teams wanted to save their ace pitchers till later in the tournament, neither team pitched either of their top 2 pitchers. Dalton Carriker is supposed to start for Warner Robins, but Kendall Scott is obviously available.

Both teams beat Tullahoma, Tennessee but Warner Robins beat them 5-1 whereas Mobile won 7-5. Both teams beat Piedmont, South Carolina but Warner Robins beat them 6-0 whereas Mobile won 5-1. Because of their win over Mobile, Warner Robins got the easier semi-final game where they beat Centreville, Virginia 3-2. Mobile played the tougher game against the previously unbeaten team from North Palm Beach, Florida and won 6-2. North Palm Beach had beaten Centreville in pool play by a score of 6-5.

I grew up near a couple water parks (Wild Rivers and Raging Waters in CA), and I don't recall hearing about that many injuries. I mean it was typical for at least one of your friends to get scratched up riding one of the the water slides, but definitely nothing major.

I'm with fost on this one - why the hell would you know anything about an 11 year old boys baseball team. Creepy - as a person with an 11 year old brother, if I saw his name on this post I'd be very upset.

As I said, all of this is inpreperation of an extremely fun trip to Williamsport, PA for 4 games that me and my friends take every summer. It is a great trip.

For the record, it's not like I knew all of this stuff before. All of it was taken from the official LLWS website and one article that came up easily on google.

I have an arrangement with the 3 other guys that go every year. I take care of the scouting (although they also watch the games on TV before we go), another guy takes care of the food (helped by the fact that his dad ownes a meat company), another guy drives and takes care of the gas, and the last guy arranges the hotels and some other stuff.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.